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Divergent by Veronica Roth
Reviewed by Hanna
The first book in its series, Divergent, by Veronica Roth is a unique young adult fiction book. The characters are well developed, and a lot of backstory is provided for each character. This is new because, in most books, each character has a brief background summary, not going into detail talking about any hardships or small characteristics that they have.
The book is based in a society unlike the one we live in today. The way the community works is that there are different factions that you choose from, and each faction has different overall standards and beliefs. The factions are Abnegation, which represents the selfless people, Dauntless, the brave people who are daring, Erudite, for the most intelligent people, Amity, represents the calm and peaceful people in society, and Candor for the people valuing honesty the most.
The main character is a girl named Tris Prior, who is born into the Abnegation faction. When each person turns into an adult, they have the option to choose another faction to join, or stay in the faction they were born into. Before the choosing ceremony, each person takes an aptitude test, which tells each person what faction they are best suited for. Tris is administered the aptitude test by a Dauntless woman, and Tris’s results were Divergent. At the time, Divergent meant that you don’t just fit into one faction, you are unique, and every faction is a piece of you. Being Divergent was against the law, and not allowed, so everyone who was Divergent kept it a secret. The woman who administers the test tells Tris to keep it to herself, Tris agrees, but doesn’t understand why. She later chooses the Dauntless faction, even though she isn’t the most typical type of person in that faction, she strongly believes in it.
At first Tris has a hard time adjusting to the Dauntless ways, considering she was in the Abnegation faction for all her life, but adjusts quickly and makes friends who help her through everything. Later in the book, one of the main conflicts is that Erudite is planning a war against the Abnegation faction and is trying to bring in the Dauntless. Every Dauntless is injected with a tracking device and Tris realizes that the Erudite are using the tracking devices to control the Dauntless. One night, Tris wakes up and sees that everyone is walking mindlessly out of the dorm rooms, and they can’t talk or “wake up” from this manipulated state of mind. Since Tris is Divergent, she realizes that nothing is affecting her so she pretends to be controlled so no one realizes her secret. Tris must go through the war and try to save everyone, while also trying to keep her Divergent secret. If she doesn’t succeed society will be ruined, and all the factions will be at war, causing chaos and irregularity. The book’s plot is compelling and leaves you wanting to read more. Every sentence leaves you with many questions of how each problem will be solved. The vocabulary used in the book is advanced, and will help you expand your word bank. Description and imagery is also utilized a lot in the entire series, each scene is described clearly and that allows you to imagine what the author is trying to convey to the reader. I rate this book a five stars out of five stars. Every aspect of it was new and broadened a side of my imagination.